The Buccaneers announced Wednesday that they’ve released well-traveled (and much-mocked) defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, the third team in the past season which has decided it’d be better off without him.

Haynesworth -- the $100 million man with the Redskins who was traded by Washington before last season and who was then axed by the Patriots in the middle of 2011 before signing with Tampa Bay -- started six of seven games with the Buccaneers, recording 25 tackles.

As Rotoworld’s Evan Silva points out, with Tampa Bay not having to pay Haynesworth’s 2012 base salary of $6.7 million and a $400,000 roster bonus, the Buccaneers will save $7.2 million on its salary cap.

"I appreciate Albert playing for us after some key injuries this past season," general manager Mark Dominik said in a statement. "He was very professional and we now wish him all the best as he moves forward."

Perhaps the biggest shocker in the whole “Haynesworth to Tampa Bay” storyline is that he didn’t make much of a peep. He didn’t get arrested. He wasn’t so obviously hated by his teammates and coaches. He seemed to be a better teammate. He seemed a more positive person.

But the question is: can he still play? Maybe not.

“This year right here, you’ve probably seen me at my worst,” Haynesworth told the Tampa Bay Times after the season. “I mean just as far as my play. I still did some good things, but I just think that next year I’ll be a hell of a lot better, back closer to my ’08 form.”

With all of Haynesworth’s baggage, though, will anybody give him another chance?

While the Buccaneers coaching search has turned somewhat disastrous -- a flip-flop rejection from Oregon’s Chip Kelly will do that for you -- it seems like Tampa Bay also is getting closer to naming their next head coach.

And that new head coach is reportedly Rutgers coach Greg Schiano.

620 WDAE in Tampa reported (via the Tampa Bay Tribune) that Rutgers coach Greg Schiano also is a candidate, and ESPN's Adam Schefter later reported that team plans to hire Schiano and that the two sides are working out a contract agreement.

The Newark Star Ledger reported earlier this month that Schiano wouldn't have an interest in coaching in the NFL. Schiano was a secondary coach for the Bears from 1996-98, and he's been at Rutgers for the past 11 years. In the past, he's turned down potential head coaching opportunities at the University of Michigan and the University of Miami.

But like the Chip Kelly story, this potential hire has seemingly come ouf nowhere.

As CBSSports.com’s Will Brinson wrote Wednesday, former Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman and Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski were reported to haved received second interviews with the team. On Thursday, Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray told the Tampa Bay Times that he’s officially out of the running.

"Told me they were going in a different direction," Gray told the newspaper.

Gray found out he was no longer in the running during an early-morning call from Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik, and the paper also reported that a source said the team is planning to continue paring down the coaching candidate list today.

Other than Chudzinski, Sherman and Gray, the team also was connected to Marty Schottenheimer, Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, new Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips (who pulled his name out of the search a few weeks ago) and Packers quarterback coach Tom Clements.

Gray also had been a candidate for the Colts job that went to Chuck Pagano on Wednesday.

They're now backpeddling and are reportedly focusing in on former Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman and Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski.

The Tampa Bay Times Stephen F. Holder wrote on Wednesday that barring another mystery candidate like Kelly emerging, it looked like a "one-horse race" for the Bucs gig with Sherman the only pony on the track. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Sherman will interview for the second time with the Bucs on Wednesday.

However, Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observerwrites that according to the "buzz around Mobile" at the Senior Bowl, Chudzinski is also getting a second look with the Buccaneers. (Chud is in Mobile along with the Panthers coaching staff, but not talking to anyone.)

Panthers head coach Ron Rivera is, and he sounds like he'd like the Bucs to wrap up their search already.

"We've heard nothing. Hopefully, we'll hear something by the end of the week," Rivera said, per Person. "We do know, from what I hear, they've brought in somebody for a second interview. So we'll see what happens."

The Bucs waiting until Wednesday to regroup and start interviewing candidates for the second time shows pretty clearly that they were all-in on Kelly, in case that wasn't obvious by what happened on Sunday evening.

Sherman, Chud Marty Schottenheimer, Wade Phillips, Brad Childress, and Mike Zimmer were the only known candidates for the job in Tampa Bay. (Phillips withdrew his name from consideration.)

Earlier Wednesday, Sherman was the only guy with a second interview coming and appeared to be the proverbial leader in the clubhouse. But it might have been just the end of the (also proverbial) third round.

Chud's now getting a second look and Chilly, Schottey or, um, Zimmy could all end up getting a second look too.

Or another shocking name could emerge out of nowhere; given how off the radar the Glazers and Mark Dominik kept Kelly's name until the last minute, it wouldn't be that surprising.

Raheem Morris says he isn't worried about the temperature of his seat. (US Presswire)

It's coaching hot seat season right now, and the Buccaneers Rahee Morris finds himself squarely at the top of the list of coaches rumored to be flying in the danger zone. Though Morris won 10 games in 2010, the Bucs have struggled mightily this season, limping to seven-straight losses, including a 41-14 bloodbath in Jacksonville last week.

Not helping matters is the lack discipline surrounding the team and its young players (Brian Price, as an example, was sent off during a game recently). And not helping matters, according to Jason Cole at Yahoo Sports, is the fact that Morris talked the Bucs into keeping troubled cornerback Aqib Talib during the offseason.

"After getting arrested for the gun incident, Tampa Bay management was ready to cut ties with Talib once and for all, according to a team source," Cole wrote on Tuesday night. "General manager Mark Dominik didn’t care about Talib’s supreme talent, the distractions were no longer worth the drama, the source said."

Cole writes that Morris has become "too close to the players" in his role as a coach, and quotes a current Bucs player who believes keeping a troubled albeit talented player like Talib sends the "wrong message."

Morris, for his part, isn't sweating the hot seat. Or at least isn't sweating the hot seat more than he does every other day he's at work.

"When you're coaching, you are always on the hot seat," Morris said Tuesday, per the St. Petersburg Times. "That's the mentality of what we do. We were on the hot seat when we were 10-6 and we didn't go to the playoffs. We could still get fired. I remember I got fired when I was 9-7 and I became the head coach that same year. So you're always in the hot seat."

"The only criticism I'm worried about is from [Bucs owners] and [general manager Mark Dominik]," Morris said. "[The media's criticism] doesn't matter. We're not going into [Saturday's game against Dallas] to not get fired. We're going in to win."

Unfortunately for Morris, Cole's report about Dominik wanting to cut Talib and being talked out of it by his own coach is exactly the sort of thing to be concerned about.

If Dominik and the Glazer family believe Morris is too close to the players and unable to control the guys on his roster, a seven-game (or more) losing streak is exactly the sort of thing that'll put him on the chopping block come the end of the season.

With Albert Haynesworth’s first practice complete with his new Buccaneers teammates, he told reporters, including the St. Pete Times, "I’m excited. This is where I should have been like, three, years ago. I think all good things come to somebody who waits."

Forget for a minute that Haynesworth said basically the same thing at the beginning of September when he had just arrived in New England: "To me, it's a career-saving place for me to come. I had no idea it would be like this, but it's unbelievable, and I wish I took two years ago and came here."

The real question is why the Buccaneers -- and, according to PFT, ONLY the Buccaneers -- would put a waiver claim on a guy who’s seemingly still talented but tends also not to give a crap about anything that’s happening around him on the football field. It’s because, as general manager Mark Dominik told NFL.com, the team was desperate after losing Gerald McCoy for the season with another torn biceps injury.

"If that doesn't happen, this doesn't happen, we don't claim Haynesworth," Dominik said. "The reality, we lost Gerald for the season, we're 4-4 and still in the thick of it, we've lost our last two and we're one game off the wild card. We don't think we're out of it.”

So, the Buccaneers decided to pick up a guy who, as my colleague Ryan Wilson puts it, has “previously shown great skill at lying motionless on the field, and his play in New England rendered him virtually invisible."

Dominik has done his homework on Haynesworth, watching multiple times all 134 of the plays involving Haynesworth this season.

"I saw disruption," Dominik said. "I saw strength, a finisher, a guy with the ability to put a lot of pressure on an offense. He's still able to be a penetrating force. He can hit it and go. I didn't see as much dogging it, but I did see the last play, where he played a 1-gap technique, and I can see why it got them frustrated. He opened up the run lane, and (Brandon) Jacobs walked in the end zone. That said, I didn't see a guy that didn't care. He battled and competed. I think he's worthy of an opportunity."

Apparently, he’s off to a good start. Coach Raheem Morris told reporters that Haynesworth picked up the defensive system quickly. He’s not sure if Haynesworth will play this Sunday, but Morris said Haynesworth could go about 35 plays if need be.

But there’s no doubt Dominik will be watching Haynesworth closely. Because, as we all know, Haynesworth’s previous two places of employment probably wouldn’t give much of a recommendation.

He did have one other interesting comment when speaking to reporters today. He said he didn’t sign with Tampa Bay in 2009 because there was too much water and too much son and he worried he couldn’t focus solely on football after he bought a big boat.

It’s a good thing he’s gotten past all those focus issues, eh?

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It certainly doesn't speak well of John McCargo's NFL prospect when some 18 hours after the Buccaneers signed him, they released him for ... Albert Haynesworth. Comments Wednesday by Jets head coach Rex Ryan, whose team lost to the Patriots in Week 5 and faces them again Sunday night, won't make McCargo feel any better. And they should trouble the Bucs, too.

”To be honest with you, our concern wasn’t Albert Haynesworth,” Ryan said, via the Boston Herald. ”Whether you believe it or not, they got a lot of big guys. Vince Wilfork is the bell cow in that front. Andre Carter is a pick up they had. I think he’s playing well. Getting (Jerod) Mayo back. I don’t think he played in our first game. He’s a tremendous player.

”But Haynesworth, specifically, it’s not like we had to know where he’s at,” Ryan went on. ”He’s just a big guy. But they got a lot of good ones. Vince Wilfork’s the guy. i think that Kyle Love kid is underrated. And they got the big kid from Boston College (Ron Brace) back. Haynesworth does have some good ability and things like that. But he’s not a guy we were absolutely concerned with.”

These comments rank pretty low on the list of incendiary things to come out of Ryan's mouth, but just because he didn't make mention of Super Bowl rings or post-meeting snacks doesn't make them any less true. The Redskins gave Haynesworth a $100 million contract before the 2009 season because he had the ability to dominate the line of scrimmage.

The Pats only wasted a fifth-rounder to kick the tires on Haynesworth, but presumably they were hoping for something more than a guy who was so unimpressive that opposing teams barely noticed him.

Tampa Bay GM Mark Dominik told Buccaneers.com that he watched "all 134 of Haynesworth's plays with NE twice before putting in a claim" so maybe he sees something that the other 31 teams missed.

Haynesworth's previously shown great skill at lying motionless on the field, and his play in New England rendered him virtually invisible. Maybe Dominik has some thoughts on how to turn that perceived weakness -- disappearing for large stretches -- into a strength. Like, say...

The Invisi-Sacker: he's invisible ... and he sacks quarterbacks.

Worst football-playing superhero? Without a doubt. But at this point in the proceedings, that might be Haynesworth's best chance at salvaging what's left of his NFL career.

Last year when the 49ers met the Broncos in London, it was clear to then-San Francisco linebacker Takeo Spikes that arriving in England a few days before Denver made a big difference.

“I think it helped (to leave early),” he told me in a Five Questions (or more) interview. “To be honest, we got there Monday morning, and we didn’t recover until that Thursday. That’s when everybody’s bodies were back on schedule. I can’t even imagine doing what Denver wanted to do and expect them to feel well-rested and alert. I know for us, even on Wednesday, I still couldn’t go to sleep on time. … I talked to them when they got off the plane on Thursday, and they said they felt fine. But damn, it must have been tough.”

Apparently, Bears coach Lovie Smith still believes the Broncos approach can work for his squad. Although the Buccaneers, who play Chicago this Sunday in London, left for the UK on Monday, Chicago won’t hop on a plane until Thursday, arriving in London on Friday. That means the Bears will have only two days to get their bodies acclimated before playing Sunday.

Smith doesn’t see a potential problem.

“For us, we wanted to keep a regular game-week routine in place and that's what we're doing,” he said, via the Tampa Tribune. “As far as getting acclimated, you can bog your mind down with all of that talk. We're going to go there. We'll be there Friday. We're leaving Thursday from here. That's plenty of time."

Tampa Bay has tried to have a normal work week as well. The Buccaneers took Tuesday off, like they normally would, to sight-see around London and then got ready to have normal practices Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

"Getting our players here early and getting them acclimated to the city, letting them have the day off here (on Tuesday) to do whatever they want kind of takes the angst away from coming in at the end of the week,'' Bucs coach Raheem Morris said from England.

Another key reason for the early travel schedule. Getting the team acclimated to the Wembley Stadium turf.

"That's why we came here on Monday,” Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik said. “Because the Wembley field is just like that. It's slipperier than what you expect, so it's important for our guys to be able to practice on it and with the right cleats on.''

The Buccaneers tried the Smith approach two years ago, and they were easily beaten by the Patriots 35-7. New England had arrived 17 hours before Tampa Bay -- which, granted, isn’t a big difference, but it is something. And with the 49ers easily beating the Broncos last season -- when San Francisco got to town three days earlier -- you’d think the Bears would be paying attention to the mini-trend.

But you’d be wrong.

"You can get as much rest as you need," Smith said. "We're going to end up playing the game at 12 o'clock, Chicago time. I don't think that's an issue at all. I think normally when you go overseas, I think the best football team normally wins. It's as simple as that. That's what will happen this time around."

Maybe, or perhaps jet lag will play a big part in a Tampa Bay win.

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Tampa Bay general manager Mark Dominik tonight told Buccaneers Radio Network (via the team’s official Twitter feed), that Talib would not be suspended for his alleged off-field incident.

Which, obviously, is great news for Talib, who will face a trial next March for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge, and the Buccaneers -- who get to play immediately with one of the top corners in the NFL.

This news is surprising for two reasons: 1) we told you Friday about the report that said team employees expected a four-game suspension for Talib, especially since he’s repeatedly gotten himself in trouble throughout his career; 2) it was thought all along that commissioner Roger Goodell would dole out punishment for NFL players’ transgressions that occurred during the lockout.

Talib, along with Britt, met with Goodell in New York last week, and apparently, that meeting went well. Now, we wait for the decision on Britt. It’ll be extra interesting to see how Goodell deals with Britt because, while he’s had about three times as many arrests this offseason as Talib, his alleged incidents combined don’t equal the seriousness of what Talib is facing.

And what to make of Goodell’s no-suspension call? Could he actually be listening to reason and common sense and NOT punishing players who got in trouble during a time when the owners made sure those players were unemployed this offseason?

It’s still unclear, of course, but the Talib decision sets a very interesting precedent.

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